A secret
by Setfiregirl
Summary: Seven months…Tomorrow will be seven months since I last saw him.....' A little once-a-one-shot-now-a-two-shot story we wrote about Filia, Xelloss and their wonderful love/hate relationship. Chapter Two now up! COMPLETE!....Finally......
1. Filia's Point of View

**Author's Note: **updated July 19th for mistakes

Disclaimer: I do not own Slayers or any of its characters. They belong to Hajime Kanzaka and Rui Arakawa and who ever else is lucky enough to own them.

* * *

**A Secret.**

**A Slayers fanfic.**

"Get BACK here namagomi!" there was a crash, followed by a laugh.

"Now Fi-chan, you're destroying your house." The purple haired Mazoku smirked.

It was true. Broken vases, smashed chairs, ripped pillows and an overturned sofa were strewn around the fuming golden haired woman holding a giant mace.

"It's your fault!" the woman took another swing at her 'guest' and smashed a picture that had been sitting above the fireplace before the Mazoku decided to move and so leave it in the line of fire.

"It's always my fault isn't it?" the floating man sighed. "I do believe you are the one smashing things…"

"Because you won't hold still, I keep hitting things!" Filia yelled.

Xelloss teleported above her head. "Maybe if you had a better aim…"

Filia scowled and threw her mace at him, which he dodged easily.

"Really, now you've lost your weapon--" he cut off as Filia reached under her skirt and pulled out…..A slightly smaller, and by the looks of it heavier, mace.

Xelloss sweatdropped and fell sideways to the ground.

"HIYA!" Filia used a downward swing that hit Xelloss in the back of his head.

Slowly, leaning on his staff for support, Xelloss got to his feet. "Fi-chan, that hurt…"

"It was SUPPOSED to!" she glared at him and retrieved her other mace.

"Really, you can be so violent…" As Filia swung her mace at him again, he smiled and disappeared.

"Get BACK here! XELLOSS!"

"Now why should I do that? Just so you can hit me again? I think not…" the laughing priest's disembodied voice replied laughingly.

Filia let out a scream of rage and frustration as she threw herself in the only remaining -intact- chair, Xelloss' laugh still echoing around the room.

* * *

The next day, Filia looked up tiredly as the purple haired pest teleported in at exactly 12:00, as he had done every day since the defeat of DarkStar two years ago.

"Good afternoon Filia! I see you've put your house back in working order." Xelloss stated cheerfully.

"Good afternoon to you too. Would you like some tea?" Filia asked with forced sweetness.

This is how the former Fire-Dragon King Priestess spent her days: she got up and had breakfast, opened her Vace'n'Mace shop, closed it at noon for tea, had tea with Xelloss when he showed up at noon, got angry after an insult from Xelloss, destroyed half of her house in an attempt to beat up Xelloss, reopened her shop after Xelloss either got hit and left or got bored and left, closed her shop at 5, repaired the damage to her house, ate dinner and went to bed. In the morning, she started the cycle all over again.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I would." He replied, floating into a vacant chair.

Once Filia had poured his tea and cut him a piece of cake, and only just began to drink her own tea, Xelloss struck:

"So Fi-chan, you keep your house clean, don't you?" he asked in the same overly cheerful voice he always used.

"Yes of course! I'd hate having mice and bugs in my house!"

Xelloss opened one eye" So you _planned_ for that spider to be on your head right now?"

Filia screamed and jumped up, pulled out her mace, shook her head vigorously to get the spider out of her hair and proceeded to bash things, trying to kill the spider; which, of course, was a fake one Xelloss put on her head.

Xelloss fell out of his chair from laughing so hard and teleported up to the ceiling to get a better view.

Somehow the spider managed to land on Filia's tea cake, sinking deep into the frosting. "Wah! It's ruined!" Filia cried, dropping her mace and holding her twitching hands up in dismay.

Xelloss roared with laughter and held his side, still floating above Filia.

"Huh?" Filia looked from Xelloss to the spider and back again. Slowly she reached forward and plucked up the spider, her eyes narrowing when she saw it was a fake.

"Xelloss! Get your fat Mazoku butt down here so I can smash it!" she yelled, lifting her mace again.

Xelloss hiccupped and whipped tears of laughter from his eyes. "Why should I? It's so much more fun to watch you destroy things from the safety of the ceiling."

Filia's left eye twitched.

"You know, Filia, I think you'd make a good Mazoku, what with your love to destroy things…" he remarked thoughtfully.

"I do NOT love to destroy things, I love to destroy YOU!" she screamed, trying in vain to land a blow on Xelloss.

"Mmhm, and that's a Mazoku quality.." he opened his eyes. "Filia, there's a mouse by your foot." He said, floating down onto the ground behind her.

The golden haired dragon screamed and, not bothering to see if Xelloss was telling the truth (he wasn't), she left onto him and latched her arms around his neck, burying her face in his chest.

Xelloss blinked. He had not been planning for _that_ to happen…He looked down at the trembling woman in his arms.

Filia opened her eyes. Purple. She looked up to see Xelloss staring down at her, a confused and curious look on his face. Filia screamed and whacked Xelloss with her mace (do not ask me how she pulled it out in her current position) so hard that he went flying backwards into a wall.

Xelloss went cross-eyed and little chibi Filia's holding a maces were circling around his head.

"Get out, get out, get out! How DARE you hug me! Get out and don't come back, I never want to see you again! Get OUT!" A blushing and enraged Filia yelled, tail waving behind her.

Xelloss sat up and rubbed his head. "I believe _you_ were the one who hugged _me,_" he reminded her.

"Get out you horrid Mazoku! GET OUT!" Filia swung her mace at Xelloss a murderess look on her face. "I HATE you! Leave! And never come back!"

Xelloss opened both his eyes and looked at her.

Filia froze: There was no humor or energy in those purple eyes, only hurt. Filia opened her mouth to say something, but before she got the chance, Xelloss disappeared.

Filia paused. She had never seen Xelloss look hurt before. Sure, she had seen him annoyed, happy and she had even him pretend to be hurt, but never had she seen him look so pained.

With a sigh, she started to clean up the mess eh had made, started with throwing away the 'ruined' cake. _I will ask him about that tomorrow._

* * *

The next day at noon, Filia looked up expectantly. Nothing. She blinked, and then looked around.

Still nothing.

_Hmm, that's odd…he always shows up right at 12:00…Maybe he has a job to do or something… _Filia tried to ignore the feeling that Xelloss wasn't coming back.

* * *

_Seven months….Tomorrow will be seven months…_ Filia thought as she brushed her hair, and then crawled into bed.

Everyday for the first month, Filia had looked around expectantly at noon, but had seen nothing. Finally, she had come to the realization that Xelloss was never coming back.

Once she realized this, she had lost most of her appetite and stopped drinking tea all together; she hated spiders and mice more then ever and refused to eat cake anymore. She couldn't even stand the sight of purple, and every time she did, she would burst into tears and smash the purple thing with anything within reach.

After five months of no sign of Xelloss, she had closed her shop and stopped leaving her house.

At night, she had nightmares of all the things that could have happened to Xelloss to make him stop coming, even though deep down, she knew it was her fault.

What with limited sleep, no fresh air and hardly any food, Filia did not look good. Her once golden hair was dull and lifeless, her face was pale, her eyes no longer sparkled and she didn't even have the strength to swing her mace around anymore.

_I never thought I'd miss him…But then again, I never thought he wouldn't come back…. _

She sighed_. I really do miss him…If I could go back and change it, I would._

With that, she drifted off into the usual fitful sleep, once again dreaming about Xelloss.

Filia sighed as she looked in the cellar. "I guess I'll have to go shopping."

"The one time I do have an appetite, I have no food. How ironic" Filia murmured as she walked to the dry goods store.

* * *

Filia yawned as she walked out of the store with three parcels of food. She got as far as the dinning room of her house before she collapsed from hunger and exhaustion. _So...Tired…_

The next thing she knew, she was laying in her bed; warm, comfortable and well rested. She also had the feeling someone had been watching over her, a gentle hand stroking her hair.

_How did I get up here? I was downstairs…._ Filia sat up and rubbed one eye.

After a second or two of puzzlement, she noticed a light purple glove laying on her nightstand. It took her a few moments to register what she was seeing, but once she did, her eyes widened in recognition.

The golden dragon reached out and snatched up the glove. _This is…Xelloss'?! He was here?! Was _he_ the one who brought me up to by room?_

Filia jumped up and searched the house for more clues as to whether or not Xelloss had indeed been there, watching over her, helping her.

Finally she accepted the fact that Xelloss wouldn't have come back, and she only _thought_ that the glove was Xelloss'

Blinking back tears of loneliness, Filia returned to her room and stared at the glove as if it could make Xelloss appear.

Filia opened her eyes at the sound of someone teleporting. Vaguely she remembered getting back under the blankets and drifting off to sleep after staring for hours at Xelloss' glove.

Slowly, while her eyes adjusted to the darkness, Filia glanced around the room

There was a shadowy figure in the corner of her room and before Filia could even grab her mace, the figure had teleported in from of her and hit her over the head.

* * *

She awoke sometime later to see a Mazoku with red eyes and bluish green hair staring at her from across the room where he say, her mace laying across his knees.

Filia tried to scream, but discovered she was sitting on the ground, a black strip of cloth tied across her mouth and her arms bound behind her back.

As soon as the Mazoku saw she was awake, he stood up and grinned. "Filia ul Copt, former priestess of the Fire Dragon King, it has come to the attention of the Mazoku race that you may be a threat in later years, and it is wise to rid us of said threat." He spoke in a laughing voice and moved forward, a ball of crackling red energy growing in his raised left hand.

Before the deadly blast could reach Filia, another figure teleported next to her, grabbed her around the waist and teleported across the room and behind the blue-haired Mazoku.

Filia's eyes widened. "Mehoff!" the purple haired Mazoku pulled the cloth from Filia's mouth, stood up and turned around to face the intruder.

"Xelloss." The other Mazoku spat, eyes glinting.

"Voderen." Xelloss acknowledged.

The Mazoku called Voderen sneered. "I should have known you'd show up. I've heard of your growing fondness of golden dragons."

"Yes, well, I think that if you ever got to know a dragon -as unlikely as that is- you would find them worth keeping around too" Xelloss answered quietly, pointing the tip of his staff at the other Mazoku.

"Hmph, as if I would; I make it my duty to kill all dragons I come across- which I must say is a surprisingly large number." Voderen replied, generating a dozen or so small black darts. "Now I mustn't break the tradition. Step aside so I can kill this one." He ordered.

"I'm afraid I can't do that." Xelloss told him quite calmly, a small orb of sapphire blue gathering at the point of his staff.

"Then you shall die alongside her!" he snapped, sending three of the darts flying at them.

Xelloss waved his hand to the side, making the darts fly into he wall, which turned black and seemed to disintegrate. "I'm afraid that's not on my list of things to do today. Maybe some other time."

There was a slow, agonizing scream as the ball of sapphire energy hit Voderen, causing him to evaporate.

"All talk and no show. How boring." Xelloss commented, turning around to face Filia, who saw his eyes were open.

Xelloss lifted his right index finger and the ropes that tied Filia fell away. With another swipe of his hand, the furniture and books that had scattered all righted themselves and returned to their proper place. The wall repaired itself in an instant.

All this time, Filia stared at him, as if not believing her eyes. It couldn't be true that Xelloss had showed up -after _seven months_ of absence-, saved her like, defended the Golden Dragon race, killed one of his own kind, and on top of all that, fixed the damage to her house.

Xelloss turned away from Filia and started to teleport away.

"Wait!" Filia yelled, launching to her feet.

Xelloss paused, but didn't turn around. "Yes?" he said coldly.

Filia flinched back. "Wh-why didn't you ever come back?" she asked in a quiet and trembling voice.

"Really, I believe you said to 'Leave and never come back.' " he replied, voice still cold and hateful.

Again, Filia flinched back. "I-I didn't really mean…I thought you…I didn't think you would _listen_, if I'd have known…I'm sorry…." She whispered, turning away and whipping her eyes on the back of her hand.

Xelloss sighed and teleported in from on Filia. "Don't cry." He murmured, putting a finger under her chin and turning her face up to look at him. Once again, his eyes were fully open and his purple irises were clear and soothing.

Filia sobbed harder then ever and threw herself into Xelloss' arms.

She felt Xelloss stiffen. "Filia." He said warningly. "If you'll recall, the last time you hugged me it didn't turn out too well…"

Filia only hugged him tighter. "I never meant for you to stay gone…I didn't mean what I said about you never coming back…" her voice trailed off. "I'm so sorry about what I said; I never would have said it if I'd known you would leave…"

Slowly and cautiously, Xelloss wrapped his arms around Filia's waist and hugged her tightly.

Filia let herself relax in Xelloss' arms and took a deep, calming breath. "Don't you ever stay away for so long again."

"I'll think about it." he whispered, voice calm and relaxed.

Suddenly Xelloss stiffened and took a step away from Filia, the latter opening her eyes and looking at Xelloss in confusion.

Xelloss was on one knee with his head bowed and his back to Filia.

"Xelloss, what're you--"

"Quiet." He said before she could get any further.

A violet pillar of light was forming in one corner of Filia's room. After a few seconds, the light died down and in its place stood a woman who looked you and old at the same time, while still giving off an impression of calm superiority and unique beauty.

The woman had long silver hair and shocking violet eyes that were nearly the same color as Xelloss' . She wore long knee high black leather boots and hat a low cut silver top on and a short black mini-skirt.

Xelloss murmured something Filia didn't catch and the woman acknowledged him with a nod. "You may go now," she said calmly, taking a step towards Filia

Filia saw a fleeting look of worry cross Xelloss' face before he bowed lower and disappeared.

"Now, your name is Filia, correct?" here the woman paused and Filia nodded. "My name is Beastmaster Zelas, Xelloss' creator and Master."

Filia let out a small gasp. _So that explains why Xelloss reacted the way he did. Still, what does she want with me?_

"I assume you wish to know why I am here, correct?" Zelas asked, smiling amusedly.

"well…Yes…" Filia replied, confused slightly.

"There's no need to be so afraid. I'm just here to chat." The Mazoku lord seated herself in an armchair next to the widow. "Please, sit"

Filia almost refused out of anger, but realized it would be unwise to do such, so she complied. _Telling me to sit down in my own home! How rude. _

Zelas grinned wolfishly. She knew what Filia was thinking. "Now, tell me: What do you think of Xelloss?"

Filia blinked, taken aback. "Well….that is…Er, why do you wish to know?" she bit her lip, knowing she shouldn't have been rude, but she couldn't help it. It _was_ a private question.

"I'm simply looking out for my little boy." Zelas sat back and waved one hand, causing a pipe to appear. The silver-haired woman put it in her mouth and took a long puff, still surveying Filia.

"Well….I used to hate him…He's a Mazoku and I'm a golden dragon, and he seems to live to annoy me…" Filia paused and then continued in a softer voice. "But when he left, it felt like a part of me left with him too…I missed him so much, I didn't think it possible to be happy again…."

Zelas' smile widened. "Then you don't hate him?"

"Well…no…I-I think I--" Filia looked quite confused as she talked. " I think I love him." Zelas raised an eyebrow "When I realized he wasn't coming back, I didn't think I could live without him anymore. I wished that he would always be there…When I slept, I'd dream that he came back. Then when I'd wake up and find out it was just a dream, I'd cry and be so miserable.. but then he showed up today and he saved me…and I felt as if my heart would burst from joy. And he told me it was my fault he stayed away, and I wanted more then anything to go back and change my saying those things." Filia hung her head. "so yes, I think I love him"

"Well, I think things are going to get better." Zelas said cheerfully. "It can't rightly get worse. Nothing can be worse then seeing Xelloss go from annoyingly cheerful and lively, to dark, quiet and, well, sad."

"He-he was…sad?" Filia asked, shocked.

Zelas nodded. "Oh yes, he would mope around and snap at everybody who crossed his path. I don't' think I've even seen him in such a bad mood. He'd go annoy Lina and the others much more than usual and I daresay he blew up a decent amount of deserted islands -I'm surprised he didn't destroy inhabited islands- he was so bad tempered. Then earlier this week, I was watching him kill some bandits (I believe that's something he picked up from Lina-chan) and he suddenly teleported here, to your house. That was when you had collapsed from exhaustion, and he brought you up to your room"

"How long was I out?" Filia traced a pattern on her quilt.

"Four days. Xelloss stayed by your side the whole time. Then, the day you woke up, he was still there with you, but you woke up so suddenly he had to leave before you saw him, he forgot his glove. Earlier today I was discussing his absence, and much to my surprise, he disappeared and came to your aid." Zelas informed her, still puffing away at her pipe.

Filia was still processing this information when Zelas stood up abruptly.

"If you'll excuse me, one of my wolves is being attacked by my man-eating rosebush. Xelloss must have forgotten to feed it…." And with that, she disappeared.

* * *

"Well that was…sudden…" Filia commented, standing up and looking around. Sudden fatigue washed over Filia and she collapsed into her bed. _Xelloss_

"I think today is going to be a good day!" Filia said cheerfully as she got out of bed and stretched. "I feel like having some tea."

With a slight smile on her face, Filia dressed and went down to her kitchen to prepare some tea.

Just as Filia was sitting down at her kitchen table and raising her cup to her lips, someone teleported into her kitchen behind her.

Filia jumped and dropped her teacup.

"Good morning Filly! How are you this fine summer day?" Xelloss chirped, floating into the empty seat across form Filia.

"What 'fine summer day'? It's storming out." Filia threw him a disapproving look before starting to clean up the mess she had made from dropping her cup of tea. "Wait, what did you call me?"

"Filly; since you didn't like me calling you Fi-chan, I decided on Filly." Xelloss poured himself a cup of Filia's famous tea. "Well, of course it's storming! And that is what makes it such a wonderful day!" he said, sipping elegantly sipping at his tea, a pinky finger sticking out.

"Right, I forgot Mazoku love storming weather" Filia retrieved a new cup from her china cabinet.

"You didn't answer the original question." Xelloss pouted. "How are you this fine summer day?"

Filia smiled and sipped her tea. "Better now that you're here."

Xelloss opened his eyes in surprise. "Don't you usually hate it when I come for tea?" she shrugged, "Then why are you happy that I'm here?"

Filia grinned. She had bee waiting for him to ask that. "Now Xelloss, that is a secret." She closed one eye and wiggled her right index finger at him.

Xelloss frowned. "Is it always so annoying when I say that?"

"Sore wa Himitsu Desu."

"I get the point…" he muttered darkly.I'm_ supposed to be annoying _her_, not the other way around…_

Filia giggled at the sour look on Xelloss' face.

Somewhere, miles away, Zelas was watching and roaring with laughter as her General/Priest was made fun of by a Golden Dragon.

They sat for a while, both sipping their tea and watching each other.

Finally, Filia broke the silence. " Xelloss…"

"Yes Filly?"

"Do you remember that one time just before we defeated dark star, when you, Miss Lina and the others were trying to convince me to help?" she asked slowly.

"Yes….What are you getting at?" he asked cautiously.

Filia bit her lip. "And you said…you said--"

Xelloss put his teacup down on the table. "And I said 'there's the golden dragon I love' correct?" Xelloss finished for her.

Filia blushed. "Yes, that."

"What about it?" he asked quietly, opening his eyes to look at her.

"W-Why did you say it?" she asked, fiddling with her napkin.

"Filly, you know…..That, is a secret." Xelloss replied, going back to his normal voice and closing his eyes.

Filia glared at him and opened her mouth to say something, but before she could, Xelloss teleported right in from of Filia, eyes open again, still grinning, though this was a childish grin.

"A secret I _might_ share with you." Xelloss put one of his hands on Filia's cheek.

Filia blinked and watched Xelloss' face change emotions; first amusement, then surprise, followed by something that _looked_ like fear, then -it couldn't be true- love.

Before she had a chance to figure out what it meant, Xelloss kissed her. Tenderly, almost fearfully; as if he was afraid of her response.

Filia let her eyes drift close as she wrapped her arms around Xelloss' neck and kissed him back

Xelloss pulled Filia to a standing position and slid her arms around her waist, tugging her closer.

Finally Xelloss pulled away and looked at Filia curiously.

Filia sighed and laid her head on Xelloss' shoulder "I love you," she whispered softly.

Though Filia couldn't see it, Xelloss smiled contentedly.

"And if this emotion is what I think it is, I love you too." He replied, now stroking Filia's golden hair.

Filia looked up at Xelloss; "You're coming back for tea tomorrow?" she asked hopefully.

"Always" he replied, and then kissed her forehead.

**Owari**

Syerrah: Okay, so I've had this written since May or so, but only typed it up today, and my wrist hurts like you wouldn't believe. u.u'

Julia: Anyway, Please Review!

Angela: We're thinking of writting another chapter of the whole story over again, only this time Xelloss' point of view, so you can see what he was doing all those long seven months.

Julia: so REVIEW and tell us if we should.

Reina: Not that it matters, they've already decided and just want you to feel like you're important.

Olivia: How cruel! How unjust!

Syerrah: REINA! YOU WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO TELL THEM!!

Angela: Heheh...

Julia: REVIEW!


	2. Xelloss' Point of View

**Disclaimer:**

Julia: We don't own Slayers. sniffle But-But-But...I WANT XELLOSS!!

Angela: Yah...she likes Xelloss...And I like Zelgadis...and Syerrah and Olivia like Gourry...and I think Reina likes Xelloss too...

Olivia: We're terribly sorry for this chapter taking so long...We've been on visiting relatives and such, that and the other two stories that we're already writing...

Angela: And this thing had like 34 chapters in the notebook and that intimidated us so we delayed typing it up...

Julia: And Xelloss is hard to write...

Reina: Bah, they're just making excuses. They didn't even finish the story till two weeks ago.

Syerrah: Eheheheh...And ON WITH THE STORY!!

**A Secret: Chapter Two, Xelloss' Point of View**.

Really, she looked so cute when she was angry. Not to mention the anger pouring off of her in waves was so strong, it was making him slightly drunk.

"Get BACK here namagomi!" there was a crash, followed by a laugh.

"Now Fi-chan, you're destroying your house." The purple haired Mazoku smirked.

It was true. Broken vases, smashed chairs, ripped pillows and an overturned sofa were strewn around the fuming golden haired woman holding a giant mace.

"It's your fault!" the woman took another swing at her 'guest' and smashed a picture that had been sitting above the fireplace before the Mazoku decided to move and so leave it in the line of fire.

_Hmm, too bad she broke the picture…_Xelloss glanced at the picture, _oh well, it wasn't a very good picture anyway, her dress made her look fat._

"It's always my fault isn't it?" the floating man sighed. "I do believe you are the one smashing things…"

"Because you won't hold still, I keep hitting things!" Filia yelled.

Xelloss teleported above her head. "Maybe if you had a better aim…"

Filia scowled and threw her mace at him, which he dodged easily.

_Ah, I love the way her hair falls around her face when she's all worked up. _"Really, now you've lost your weapon--" he cut off as Filia reached under her skirt and pulled out…..A slightly smaller, and by the looks of it heavier, mace.

Xelloss sweat dropped and fell sideways to the ground. _T-two maces under her skirt? How does she WALK?!_

"HIYA!" Filia used a downward swing that hit Xelloss in the back of his head.

Slowly, leaning on his staff for support, Xelloss got to his feet. "Fi-chan, that hurt…"

"It was SUPPOSED to!" she glared at him and retrieved her other mace.

_Ah, there's that look that makes her look so beautiful; it makes me want to keep her mad…. _

"Really, you can be so violent…" As Filia swung her mace at him again, he smiled and disappeared.

"Get BACK here! XELLOSS!"

"Now why should I do that? Just so you can hit me again? I think not…" the laughing priest's disembodied voice replied laughingly.

Filia let out a scream of rage and frustration as she threw herself in the only remaining -intact- chair, Xelloss' laugh still echoing around the room.

_Really…she's just plain fun to be around._ Xelloss thought to himself as she watched for a few minutes before returning to Wolf-Pack Island

* * *

Xelloss smiled to himself as he teleported into Filia's kitchen at precisely noon.

He didn't quite know why, but for some reason he found himself coming back to Filia's house every day for tea. Maybe it was because he had nothing better to do. Or maybe it wa because he just couldn't help but love to tease her. Either way, he was here, as he always was.

"Good afternoon Filia! I see you've put your house back in working order!" he greeted her cheerfully.

"Good afternoon to you too! Would you like some tea?" Filia asked, and Xelloss felt her struggle to not order him from her home.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I would." He replied, floating into a vacant chair.

Xelloss silently debated how next to annoy Filia. His face split into a wide grin as he settled on a plan.

"So Fi-chan, you keep your house clean, don't you?" he asked in the same overly cheerful voice he always used.

"Yes of course! I'd hate having mice and bugs in my house!"

Xelloss grinned_. Ah, she always plays right into my hands_…he silently opened his eyes; the tiny sliver of purple that was showing flashed red, then he closed his eyes calmly and appraised the spider that had just materialized on top of Filia's head.

Xelloss opened one eye" So you _planned_ for that spider to be on your head right now?"

Filia screamed and jumped up, pulled out her mace, shook her head vigorously to get the spider out of her hair and proceeded to bash things, trying to kill the spider; which, of course, was a fake one Xelloss put on her head.

Xelloss fell out of his chair from laughing so hard and teleported up to the ceiling to get a better view.

Somehow, the spider managed to land on Filia's teacake, sinking deep into the frosting. "Wah! It's ruined!" Filia cried, dropping her mace and holding her twitching hands up in dismay.

Xelloss roared with laughter and held his side, still floating above Filia.

"Huh?" Filia looked from Xelloss to the spider and back again. Slowly she reached forward and plucked up the spider, her eyes narrowing when she saw it was a fake.

"Xelloss! Get your fat Mazoku butt down here so I can smash it!" she yelled, lifting her mace again.

Really, did she actually think he would listen? Xelloss hiccupped and whipped tears of laughter from his eyes. "Why should I? It's so much more fun to watch you destroy things from the safety of the ceiling."

Filia's left eye twitched.

"You know, Filia, I think you'd make a good Mazoku, what with your love to destroy things…" he remarked thoughtfully.

"I do NOT love to destroy things, I love to destroy YOU!" she screamed, trying in vain to land a blow on Xelloss.

"Mmhm, and that's a Mazoku quality.." he opened his eyes. "Filia, there's a mouse by your foot." He said, floating down onto the ground behind her.

The golden haired dragon screamed and, not bothering to see if Xelloss was telling the truth (he wasn't), she left onto him and latched her arms around his neck, burying her face in his chest.

Xelloss blinked. _What the..?_ He looked down at the trembling woman in his arms and stared.

Filia opened her eyes. Purple. She looked up to see Xelloss staring down at her, a confused and curious look on his face. Filia screamed and whacked Xelloss with her mace (do not ask me how she pulled it out in her current position) so hard that he went flying backwards into a wall.

"Get out, get out, get out! How DARE you hug me! Get out and don't come back, I never want to see you again! Get OUT!" A blushing and enraged Filia yelled, tail waving behind her.

Xelloss sat up and rubbed his head. "I believe _you_ were the one who hugged _me,_" he reminded her.

"Get out you horrid Mazoku! GET OUT!" Filia swung her mace at Xelloss a murderess look on her face. "I HATE you! Leave! And never come back!"

A sharp stab of hurt shot through Xelloss and he opened both his eyes and looked at her.

_Fine, if that is how you want to be…_ The Mazoku thought as he teleported away, leaving a very confused Filia behind to figure things out on her own.

* * *

"Stupid little dragon, how dare she order me around? And she accused _me_ of hugging _her_, when she grabbed _me_ for protection from something that wasn't even _there_." Xelloss muttered to himself when he rematerialized in his room on Wolf-Pack Island.

Xelloss glared at the wall; while he kept his eyes closed, you could be sure that if he opened those eyes, the wall would most likely melt. A few miles away, a small island blew up with from the sheer force of his emotions.

_Stupid dragon….Fine see if I ever help her again._

For the next three days, Xelloss did nothing but blow things (and people) up. The score stood at three islands, four bandit camps and seventeen lesser demons.

After two months, Xelloss calmed slightly. Beastmaster even let him go out on missions now that he would actually listen to her.

It wasn't until the night before the full moon, three and a half months after Filia had banished him, that Xelloss went to see his All You Can Eat Buffet, aka, Lina and the gang.

Zelgadis had returned to Saillune to search the Royal Libraries for You-Know-What, and had set off to follow some leads with Amelia following 'For the Sake Of Justice and Friendship.'

Lina and Gourry and Zel and Amelia had run into each other in Atlas City, where Lina and her trusty Sidekick, Loyal Jellyfish, Companion/Protector, Gourry had decided to accompany Zel and Amelia on their quest in case they ran into any treasure (and so that Amelia could pay their bills)

They were eating when Xelloss showed up (Big surprise….) and only Zel noticed his arrival.

"What do you want?" he asked harshly; poor Amelia, who had just opened her mouth to ask Zelgadis to pass the breadbasket, clamped her mouth shut with a hurt look on her face, having not realized who Zel was talking to.

Xelloss grinned "Oh, nothing! Is there something wrong with visiting old friends?"

"Wow, he called us his friends. I feel honored and quite touched." Lina said sarcastically, for once looking up from her food.

Xelloss shrugged, "Well, after everything we've been through, is something wrong with considering you four my friends?"

Amelia had stars in her eyes. "Oh, Mr. Xelloss! Now you know the happiness and joy of friendship. Mr. Xelloss! Now is the time to repent for your sins and accept the ways of Justice! Only then can you become a TRUE human and warrior of Justice!!" she declared, jumping up onto the chandelier.

Xelloss sweat dropped and turned a little green, "Whoever said I WANTED to be a human, or a 'Warrior of Justice' "

Amelia's lip trembled. "B-but…"

Zel sighed, "Amelia, come down from there before you hurt yourself."

Xelloss' grin widened. "Oh? Showing concern for little Amelia? How sweet" Xelloss mentally gagged as he said the last part

Zelgadis turned a funny purple color from his blush, but he quickly recovered. "Who said that?!"

Xelloss smiled and without the slightest movement to give it away, he made the chandelier start to rock gently at first, then faster until it began to loosen from the ceiling.

"Eeeeeeek! Mr. Zelgadis, help me!!" The little princess cried as she started to fall.

Zel dropped his cup of coffee and dove at the spot where Amelia was falling towards. He just managed to catch her before she hit the ground.

"Th-Thank you Mr. Zelgadis." She whispered quietly.

Xelloss leaned toward Lina and Gourry "Notice how she calls for help from 'Mr. Zelgadis' instead of just casting Levitation." He whispered loudly, purposely making sure Zel would be able to hear.

Amelia, too, heard, and turned pink as she looked at the ground.

Xelloss smiled and enjoyed the embarrassment coming from Zel and Amelia, until they recovered and Xelloss decided it was time to move onto bigger and better targets.

"Ne, Lina…Do you even know what you're eating?" he asked with a devilish grin.

Lina blinked ant looked up from her food. "No….Not really, but it tastes familiar…."

Xelloss was laughing on the inside, but on the outside he was calm. "Would you like me to tell you?"

"Sure, why not?" Lina shrugged, "What is this stuff?"

"Fried slugs." Lina turned pale, "That next to it is pickled slugs," Lina's face turned paler, "And this right here is roasted slugs." Lina slowly went from white to green.

Xelloss opened one eye, "though I believe, as a child, your favorite was-" he waved a hand and a platter of still oozing slugs appeared "-raw slugs?"

Lina let out one chocked gasp and fell backwards onto the ground in a dead faint.

"Eh, Lina?" Gourry asked as he leaned over the unconscious girl. "Liiiiiinaaaaa? Hey, wake up." He gently slapped Lina cheeks.

"Huh? Wha--?" Lina's eyes fluttered open. She saw Xelloss laughing silently at her and sat up abruptly.

"Xelloss! I'm gonna Ragna Blade your sorry face!" She yelled, her Demon's Blood Talismans starting to glow

Xelloss held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. "aw, c'mon, can't take a joke?" he asked cheerfully.

Despite the threat on his life, Xelloss was giddy. He hadn't enjoyed himself this much since that day he'd put the spider in Filia's hair.

A flash of pain went through Xelloss as he recalled the later events of that day. It had started out as a generally nice day, with Filia's anger and such giving him a healthy meal, but had then turned into a overall bad day.

Xelloss realized he was frowning and the rest of the gang was staring at him. Xelloss blinked, calmed the crackling lightning that had gathered around him and smiled once more.

"What, worried about lil' ol' me? Why, I'm touched!" he said, his normal cheery face and voice back in place.

Zel's face darkened.

Gourry blinked.

Amelia looked ready to assure him of her concern.

Lina went back to eating.

_Hmm, they're fun to play with, but they're not even close to as fun as Filia._

"Ne, Lina-San, I've been wondering…" the purple haired Mazoku started.

Lina looked up from her now finished food and raised an eyebrow. "about..?"

"Do you _ever _grow? I mean, you look exactly like you did four years ago, only now you have wrinkles." He was lying of course. Lina did NOT have wrinkles. However, she didn't have to know that.

Lina shot to her feet. "_Darkness beyond Twilight, Crimson beyond Blood that Flows…_"

"Miss Lina! Not in town!" Amelia yelled and also jumped to her feet.

"Oh boy, here we go again." Zel mumbled and finished the rest of his coffee.

"Ah, Lina!" Gourry stood up quickly and wrapped his arms around her, pinning her arms to her side.

"Lemme go! I'm gonna kill that fruity little fruitcake!" she screeched as she struggled to break free of Gourry's hold.

Xelloss laughed till his sides hurt as he watched the chaos.

Lina was still -unsuccessfully- trying to Dragon Slave Xelloss; Gourry was struggling to hold Lina down; Amelia was trying to convince Lina to spare the town and Zelgadis was evacuating the area in the event of Gourry losing his grip on Lina.

Xelloss teleported up above their heads to avoid the fireball that managed to escape Gourry's hold on Lina.

Finally, after about ten minuets of struggling, Lina calmed down enough for Gourry to release her.

"Ugh, why do you have to bother us?" Lina demanded, "Go…..bug Filia or something, I'm sure she'd looove to have you company.

Xelloss' eyes snapped open. A look of hurt and pain crossed his face. "Unfortunately, I don't think you're right about that." He said stiffly, then vanished in a cloud of black dust.

Lina blinked. "well that was…" she began

"Sudden?" Zel supplied.

"I was going to say weird, but that works too…" the redhead stared at the spot where Xelloss had disappeared. "I wonder what that was all about…"

* * *

Xelloss growled as pain shot through his body.

He silently leaned up against a wall and sighed. "I'm beginning to hate the moon. Make that I DO hate the moon…." He muttered and pushed himself off of the wall, heading to his room.

He stood at his window, watching the wolves howl at the full moon.

It had been three years since he had started having to go through this. Since he'd made that dumb deal with L-Sama, all for Beastmaster.

Of course that wasn't completely true. He could have said 'no', but a part of him, even then, was almost human, and thus he felt like he should do what Beastmaster wanted.

When the Lord of Nightmares had taken Gourry's Sword of Light as payment for getting Lina back, Beastmaster Zelas had sent Xelloss to retrieve it, saying 'it will be helpful in years to come'

Well, it HAD been helpful -and necessary- during the Dark star Campaign.

But the price…Ah, the price. The Mother of All Things had gotten tired of taking things (she had also said something about running out of storage space), and decided to GIVE something unwanted, something that would cause him pain, but not kill him.

The Lord o Nightmares, Mother of All, Creator of Life and Ruler of the Four Worlds, had given Xelloss a human body; lungs, a stomach, ext. (However, even with this new body, he would keep his Mazoku abilities and traits). And with that human body, human emotions; Joy, Jealously (though he'd been able to feel that to an extent before) Fear and Love. Yes, Love.

As 'An added bonus' as the Lord of Nightmares had called it, Xelloss would turn into a full human on the night o the full moon. He would lose all of his Mazoku powers, his eyes would turn a deep purple-blue and his hair a simple black. During his 'transformation' as you can imagine, Xelloss went through quite a bit of pain (getting your body turned into a human's is NOT comfortable)

As the full moon rose, Xelloss' transformation would begin, and his abilities would slowly disappear, till at midnight, he was full human. Then once midnight passed, his abilities slowly would return over the course of the next day, till the moon rose again. Then he would be back to 'normal'

Xelloss flopped tiredly onto his bed and stayed there, thinking. _Humans are so…weak. They worry about the littlest things. They have such pitiful emotions too…Like love….How can they love? In the end, all it brings is pain._

_I have the ability to love as well… The ability. However, that doesn't mean I do love….In a way, I do love Beastmaster. How can I not? She's my mother. That's all she's ever been to me…she's always there for me on these nights when I can't defend myself._

_But that's not the same kind of love……_

Unbidden, a picture of Filia leapt to his mind. Xelloss' eyes, which had been scrunched in pain, shot open.

_Why did I think of_ her? Xelloss scowled darkly. _I certainly don't feel any emotions for _her. _She's the only one who's ever hurt me and--Oh L-sama help me now, I'm in love with a Golden Dragon. How did that happen?! All she's ever done is annoy me to no end. She's always angry and she hits ma and she's so whiney and I love it when she actually smiles and--wait, WHAT?! Where did THAT come from?!_

_But it's true….you DO love her……And that's why it hurt so much when she told you that she hated you and wanted you to leave… _A small voice in the back of Xelloss' head whispered.

Xelloss stared up at his ceiling, a look of pure pain on his face as another wave of agony swept through him.

_Why did it have to be Filia that I fell in love with?_

With a quiet sigh, Xelloss resigned himself to a night of pain.

* * *

_BANG _

"Aw, Lina-san, you almost hit me!" Xelloss whined as the fireball flew by his head.

"I was TRYING to!" The enraged red-head yelled as she scowled up at him.

_Hm, I'm getting a sense of déjà-vou…_the floating Mazoku thought absently as he watched Lina try to hit him.

As Lina yelled at Xelloss for killing some bandits she'd apparently called dibs on, Gourry sighed and sat down by a tree; if Lina was going to kill Xelloss and thus delay their traveling, he Gourry, would take a nap while waiting. "'shame Amelia and Zel decided to split off and meet us in the next village…I could talk with one of them….." he mumbled as she drifted off to sleep.

Xelloss vaguely saw Gourry drift off to sleep out of the corner of his eyes as he teleported to the side of a flare arrow, but was to busy taunting Lina to really care.

Lina stomped her foot in aggravation and threw a tree branch at Xelloss' head in frustration that he kept dodging her spells.

An unwanted image of Filia stomping her foot and throwing her mace at Xelloss flashed into his head a Xelloss winced.

It had been seven months since he had seen Filia last, and he was almost starting to regret it. Almost. Maybe. Some. _Almost_

Every time he thought of her, it hurt and he had to resist the strong urge to visit her, but he refused to return to her house.

_Besides, she's the one who told me to never come back. If she doesn't want me around, then I won't bug her….Even if it hurts me to stay away._

_May the Lord of Nightmares herself strike me down for it, but I loved Filia with all my heart. I love that darned stupid, selfish, annoying, violent, beautiful, kind, wonderfully cute and childish golden dragon, and nothing can change that._

Xelloss blinked as a slipper whizzed by his head, clipping his cheek and snapping him back to reality.

Lina glared up at him with both hands on her hips.

Xelloss blinked again and was about to say something when he felt a flash of pain come from Filia's house.

Xelloss' purple eyes snapped open and without a word, he disappeared, leaving a surprised and very irritated sorceress behind.

When Xelloss appeared in Filia's kitchen, he was shocked to see the blond laying on the floor, unconscious.

"Filia…?" he whispered and teleported next to the dragoness. He was relieved to find out she was just asleep, but by the looks of it, this was the first rest she'd gotten in a week, at least.

After a second of hesitation, Xelloss sighed and scooped the sleeping woman into his arms and teleported up to her room, where he laid her gently on the bed and covered her up with a quilt.

Xelloss looked down at Filia and absently brushed the hair out of her face while he thought.

_As far as I can tell, she's just sleeping, but why is she so tired? _He slowly began stroking Filia's hair as he watched her beautiful face contort as if she was having a nightmare. Just the sight of her in pain sent Xelloss into a worried fit. Absently Xelloss removed his glove and set it on Filia's nightstand before continuing to stoke her hair.

After a few moments, the grimace of pain disappeared from her face and she relaxed.

_I don't even know why she's so tired...what could she have been doing that would make her just collapse?_

For the next three days, Xelloss did nothing but sit by Filia's bed, stoking her hair and watching her rest.

Finally, the morning of the fourth day, Filia's stirred and began to open her eyes.

Xelloss blinked, and without even waiting for her to open her eyes fully, he disappeared, leaving Filia to take care of herself.

* * *

"You know Xelloss, I expect you to tell me when you take extended vacation time. I need to know where you are at ally times." Zelas said, taking a sip of wine as she lectured Xelloss for being gone nearly five days.

"I apologize Beastmaster. It won't happen again." He assured her, bowing low

After Xelloss had returned to the island, Beastmaster had summoned him to the throne room and chided him for simply leaving to blown up Lina's dibbed bandits and then coming back four days later, having stayed at Filia's and giving Zelas so notice at all. He'd been sitting here for the last three hours at least while Zelas continued to rant.

"…So at least tell me where you were." She finished and took a drag of her cigarette.

Xelloss flinched. He'd been afraid of that. "well you see…" he cleared his throat and was about to explain the whole Filia incident when he noticed something odd. Ever since he'd left her room, Xelloss had been monitoring Filia's house in case she fainted again or hurt herself somehow.

Now Xelloss became aware of a strange presence in Filia's room. A second or two later there was a flash of fear and then pain.

"Xelloss?" the Mazoku lord said curiously when Xelloss was silent for a few minutes as he continued to frown.

Another stab of terror, more pain, and then some demonic energy started to gather in Filia's room.

Xelloss didn't hesitate, nor did he bother to explain anything to Zelas; he phased out of the throne room without a backward glance.

Xelloss arrived just in time to see a blast of energy hurl itself at Filia.

With a silent oath to make the caster pay for trying to attack _his _Golden Dragon, Xelloss teleported over to Filia, grabbed her by the waist and reappeared with her behind the other Mazoku.

Filia's eyes widened and she tried to say something around the cloth in her mouth.

Xelloss reached forward and removed Filia's gag before turning towards her attacker, hate clear in his eyes.

"Xelloss." The other Mazoku spat, eyes glinting.

"Voderen." Xelloss acknowledged.

The Mazoku called Voderen sneered. "I should have known you'd show up. I've heard of your growing fondness of golden dragons."

"Yes, well, I think that if you ever got to know a dragon -as unlikely as that is- you would find them worth keeping around too" Xelloss answered quietly, pointing the tip of his staff at the other Mazoku.

"Hmph, as if I would; I make it my duty to kill all dragons I come across- which I must say is a surprisingly large number." Voderen replied, generating a dozen or so small black darts. "Now I mustn't break the tradition. Step aside so I can kill this one." He ordered.

Xelloss felt his blood boil. True, in the past, he himself had killed countless dragons, but that was different then; That it was during a war. Voderen killed for the sheer pleasure of it. Xelloss killed on order or when he came across arrogant Mazoku who tried to kill _his_ friends.

Despite the anger he felt, Xelloss' reply was quite calm.

"I'm afraid I can't do that." Xelloss told him, a small orb of sapphire blue gathering at the point of his staff.

The color of the orb surprised him. Usually his magic was black or purple, but never _blue. _It took him less than a second to realize that the ball of energy was the exact color of Filia's eyes, though it lacked the certain sparkle that made them identical. _Heh, she's managed to change me so much it's altering my fighting and she doesn't even realize it. _

"Then you shall die alongside her!" he snapped, sending three of the darts flying at them.

Even though he was threatening him, Xelloss could tell that Voderen was scared. He could taste it. Yet he still tried to attack. It took courage and loyalty to obey an order to kill someone while offering yourself to death. Or maybe he was just stupid. That could be it.

Xelloss admired that about him. But he had still tried to hurt Filia, and that was unforgivable.

Xelloss waved his hand to the side, making the darts fly into he wall, which turned black and seemed to disintegrate. "I'm afraid that's not on my list of things to do today. Maybe some other time."

There was a slow, agonizing scream as the ball of sapphire energy hit Voderen, causing him to evaporate.

"All talk and no show. How boring." Xelloss commented, turning around to face Filia, eyes open.

For some reason, Xelloss felt mad. He was mad at Filia for how she'd unknowingly sent him into a moody depression seven months ago and had now gotten into so much trouble that he'd had to come help her twice in less than a week.

Though he was angry, Xelloss lifted his right index finger and the ropes that tied Filia fell away. Then just for good measure, he swiped his hand again, and the furniture and books that had scattered all righted themselves and returned to their proper place. The wall repaired itself in an instant.

Filia stared at him in disbelief.

Xelloss turned away from Filia and was hit by a rush of her emotions: Fear, disappointment, confusion, relief and desperation.

"Wait!" she yelled.

Simly because he was still reading her emotions, Xelloss paused. However he didn't turn around.

"Yes?" his voice came out more cold and harsh than he'd intended.

He felt Filia flinch back and her fear and desperation intensified. "Wh-why didn't you ever come back?" she asked in a quiet and trembling voice.

"Really, I believe you said to 'Leave and never come back.' " he replied; again, his voice sounded more cold and hateful than he meant it to.

Again, Filia flinched back. "I-I didn't really mean…I thought you…I didn't think you would _listen_, if I'd have known…I'm sorry…." She whispered, turning away and whipping her eyes on the back of her hand.

Xelloss felt his anger drain away just like that. With a sigh he teleported in front of Filia. "Don't cry." He murmured, putting a finger under her chin and turning her face up to look at him. Once again, his eyes were fully open and his purple irises were clear and soothing.

To his distaste, Filia only sobbed harder.

In a second, though he wasn't quite sure how it happened, she was once again in his arms, now sobbing as if her life depended on it.

Xelloss stiffened slightly. "Filia." He said warningly. "If you'll recall, the last time you hugged me it didn't turn out too well…"

Filia only hugged him tighter. "I never meant for you to stay gone…I didn't mean what I said about you never coming back…" her voice trailed off. "I'm so sorry about what I said; I never would have said it if I'd known you would leave…"

Slowly and cautiously, Xelloss allowed himself to wrap his arms around Filia's waist and hug her tightly.

Xelloss felt Filia relax in his arms and take a deep, calming breath. "Don't you ever stay away for so long again." Her voice was muffled and it sounded fragile, like she might break any moment.

"I'll think about it." he whispered, voice calm and relaxed. _Which is about as close to a 'yes' as you are going to get, my little Dragon._

Suddenly Xelloss sensed Beastmaster's presence and he stiffened and took a step back, dropping to one knee in a respectful bow.

"Xelloss, what're you--"

"Quiet." He said before she could get any further.

A violet pillar of light was forming in one corner o Filia's room. After a few seconds, the light died down and in its place stood a woman who looked you and old at the same time, while still giving off an impression of calm superiority and unique beauty.

The woman had long silver hair and shocking violet eyes that were nearly the same color as Xelloss' . She wore long knee high black leather boots and hat a low cut silver top on and a short black mini-skirt.

"Juou-sama" Xelloss murmured and she acknowledged him with a nod. "You may go now," she said calmly; it was not a request. More like she was saying 'I am trying to appear gentle, now leave before I ruin my appearance'

Xelloss hesitated for the shortest moment as Zelas calmly took a step toward Filia, before he bowed lower and retreated to Wolf-Pack Island, where he wandered around, worried, but not daring to spy lest he be heavily punished.

* * *

When Beastmaster returned, it was with great surprise that she found Xelloss sitting in a tree, eyes closed as if he was sleeping, cuddling a young wolf and talking to himself. Or to the wolf. Which ever.

"Xelloss?" Zelas stared up at her 'son'

"Mph?" he opened one eye.

"May I inquire as to what you are doing?" she tilted her head to one side as she observed him curiously.

Xelloss reclosed his eye. "What does it look like?"

"Do you really want to know?"

"Yes."

"Well if you must know, it appears that you have gone insane, kidnapped one of my wolves, retreated to a tree and are now attempting to squish it to death while you whisper your secrets to it." Zelas said dryly, beginning to raise one eyebrow.

Xelloss opened his eyes and blinked, then started to laugh.

"No, no, I'm merely having a quiet conversation with Deamar here while residing in this tree as it is out of the way of your murderous plants which o-so-recently tried to kill him."

"They're harmless if they're fed regularly." She reminded him. "Which, incidentally, is why I'm here. I seem to recall telling you to feed them before you ran off to kill bandits last week." The Greater Beast said as she blew a smoke ring at Xelloss. "Now come down from there, I want to talk with you"

Xelloss obediently teleported to the base of the tree and set Deamar gently on the ground before turning to Beastmaster.

This always amused Zelas. It was not as if her wolves couldn't protect themselves or were made of glass or something, yet her general/priest always treated them with such care.

Zelas let go of her cigarette and, letting it float in mid-air, she conjured a bottle of wine which she used to fill two hovering glasses before also letting go of it and letting it disappear. Now taking a hold of her cigarette, she gestured for Xelloss to seat himself and appeared to sit on the ground; however before she got halfway there, a chair materialized under her.

After a split-second of puzzlement at Beastmaster's odd actions, Xelloss floated cross-legged in mid-air. "Lord Beastmaster--"

"I thought I told you to stop calling me that." Zelas said with a slight frown.

Xelloss sweat dropped. "Yes……As I was saying _Mother, _might I inquire as to why you randomly appeared in Filia's house?"

"Oh? Well I was simply curious; I've heard so much about her from you and I wanted to see if she was as amusing as you seen to think. Surprisingly, she was."

Xelloss blinked. "Oh…Well…What did you two talk about for an hour and a half?"

"Sore wa-- Oh, I believe you know how that sentence ends." She winked and downed more of her constantly refilling glass of wine.

Xelloss frowned. He hated it when other people used his famous phrase. "Indeed"

"Tell me Xelloss; why do you enjoy Filia's company--No, better yet, just picture her in your mind." Zelas instructed.

The purple haired Mazoku looked at her suspiciously.

"Go on, do it." she beamed at him.

Xelloss sighed in resignation and closed his eyes, easily forming a picture of Filia in his mind. He'd thought of her so often that her face appeared in his mind even when he didn't wish it to.

Surprisingly, the image of her he saw was of her smiling at hi just before they combined their powers to defeat DarkStar.

_Hm, I love it when she smiles….Scratch that, I just plain love her. _He thought absently with a smile; his eyes snapped open as he realized his mistake and he fell to the ground from where he'd been floating, a horrified look now on his face.

"And _that _is why I use chairs." Zelas said calmly.

"Er.." Xelloss got to his feet, looking nervous. "Were you…you know…paying attention to my thoughts just now?"

Zelas' eyes widened innocently "You think I would be trying to read your mind?"

"Well….yes…" he admitted sheepishly.

"Hmph." Zelas grinned, "As if I'd need to read your mind to know that you love Filia…The emotions you're emitting are more than enough to tell me that."

"You mean you.." Xelloss hesitated.

"Well, I already knew. I'd have to be an idiot to not realize it." she remarked as she took a sip of wine.

"You're not going to punish me?"

"Why should I? Love is a wonderful thing!"

"Oka-san, you sound like Amelia…" he whined.

Zelas just shrugged.

"So….what did you talk about?" Xelloss asked her after a pause.

"You already asked that." She responded.

"Right….." he rubbed the back of his head.

"Well…..One thing is for sure." Beastmaster said after another pause.

"And that is…?" he asked, looking at her curiously.

"You're going to her house for tea tomorrow." Zelas announced.

Xelloss' eyes opened in surprise, "I'm what?"

The Mazoku lord's smile widened. "You will join Filia for tea tomorrow at noon. Do you have any complaints?"

Xelloss hesitated, then bowed his head. "No. Not really…But why do you want me to?"

Zelas' smile softened, "I just want you to be happy." She sipped her wine again, her smile turning into a wolfish grin. "Besides, she'll make such a nice daughter-in-law.

"WHAT?!" Xelloss yelped and watched in shock as Zelas disappeared with a wave.

* * *

Xelloss grinned as he teleported behind Filia. He watched in amusement as Filia jumped and dropped her tea cup. Xelloss had specifically waited till she'd been about to take a drink before he made his presence known. In truth, he'd been watching her all morning.

"Good morning Filly!" How are you this fine summer day?" Xelloss chirped as he seated himself in an empty chair.

"What 'fine summer day'? It's storming out." Filia threw him a disapproving look before starting to clean up the mess she had made from dropping her cup of tea. "Wait, what did you call me?"

Xelloss smiled; he could tell that inside she was radiant with happiness. Come to think of it, he was pretty happy too.

"Filly; since you didn't like me calling you Fi-chan, I decided on Filly." Xelloss poured himself a cup of Filia's famous tea. "And, of course it's storming! And that is what makes it such a wonderful day!" he said, sipping elegantly sipping at his tea, a pinky finger sticking out.

"Right, I forgot Mazoku love storming weather" Filia retrieved a new cup from her china cabinet.

"You didn't answer the original question." Xelloss pouted. "How are you this fine summer day?"

Filia smiled and sipped her tea. "Better now that you're here."

_Eh?_ Xelloss opened his eyes in surprise. "Don't you usually hate it when I come for tea?" she shrugged, "Then why are you happy that I'm here?"

Filia grinned. Something told Xelloss that she'd wanted him to ask that.

"Sore wa Himitsu desu !" she closed one eye and waggled a finger at him.

Xelloss frowned as a flash of annoyance shot through him. "Is it always so annoying when I say that?"

"That is a secret! "

"I get the point" He muttered darkly. _Hey, _I'm_ supposed to be annoying _her_, not the other way around._

Filia giggled.

Xelloss suddenly had the distinct impression that Beastmaster was watching…..And _laughing._

After about ten minutes of silent watching, Filia spoke.

"Ne, Xelloss…."

"Hai, Filly?"

A pause, then :"Do you remember that one time just before we defeated Darkstar when you and Miss Lina were trying to get me to help…?" she asked slowly.

"Yes….What about it?" Xelloss asked with caution.

"And you said that…" she bit her lip and Xelloss felt her confusion, caution and curiosity mix with a bit of fear and even more hope.

"Are you referring to when I said 'that's the Golden Dragon I know and love'?" he asked as he set his teacup down.

"Yes, that" Filia looked down shyly.

"What about it?" Xelloss asked in that same cautions tone.

"Well…..Why did you say it?" She finally blurted out, fiddling with her napkin.

"Filly, you know the answer." He said, his voice normal now.

"I-I do?" she looked up at him.

"The answer is 'Sore wa Himitsu desu!'"

Filia blinked and Xelloss swore for a second he looked like she regretted leaving Mace-sama up in her room. She probably did.

_Silly Dragon. _

Xelloss grinned and teleported in from of her, eyes now open, still smiling.

"A secret I _might _share with you…If you behave" he stroked her cheek with the back of his hand.

Filia stared at him with wide eyes, yet she didn't push him away, and he got the impression that she didn't mind - quite the opposite, actually.

After a quick and silent battle with himself, Xelloss leaned forward and, before Filia could protest, kissed her softly.

There was a pause, then Filia recovered from her shock and she kissed him back, sliding her arms around his neck.

Xelloss slowly pulled Filia to a standing position and wrapped one arm firmly around her waist, the other hand now tangled in her hair.

Finally, after Filia nearly fainted from lack of breath, Xelloss pulled back slightly and looked at her curiously.

Filia sighed happily and leaned her head on Xelloss' shoulder "I love you…even if it's wrong for a dragon to love a Mazoku, I do love you."

Xelloss smiled "I know…And Filia?"

"Mh?"

"I love you too." He began to stoke her hair.

Filia looked up at him "You're coming back for tea tomorrow?" she asked, hope clear in her eyes.

Xelloss chuckled, "You couldn't keep me away." He said, kissing her gently on the forehead.

**End-Owari-Fin-Final-F****inire-You get the point now?**

**Author's Note: **

Julia: So, did you like it?

Syerrah: As some people might notice, we kinda changed a little...We're sorry if we've confused you, but some of it needed revision BADLY, though we DID try to make it fit; We copied and pasted some of the bits from Filia's point of view.

Angela: We're sorry if Xelloss seams OOC, but we all like him better when he's sweet like this!

Reina: What are you three blabbering about? You talk to much...

Olivia: S-Sorry! -bows apologetically-

Reina: -rolls eyes and walks away-

Angela: Again, sorry if the story doesn't seem to fit...

Julia: Who cares what they think? WE'RE the ones that matter!! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!

-sound of a sword being drawn-

Julia: EEP! Sorry! I'll behave...For now...-laughs quietly-

Syerrah: -whispers- she's trying to impersonate Reina...and failing miserably...-end whisper-

Angela: A thought came to us a month or so back...If Beastmaster Zelas is Xelloss' 'Mother' then Shabranigdu, who created Beastmaster Zelas, could also be considered Xelloss' Grandfather right?

Julia: -laughs quietly- well, this it what Angela, Syerrah, Ne-Ne-chan and I came up with...:

**400 Year Old Xelloss: **Grandpa Shabranigdu, will you play catch with me?

**Shabby: **Sure! -puts a hand on Xelloss' head. Abruptly picks him up and throws him- Catch Darkstar!

**Xelloss: **That's not what I meaaaaaaaaaaaaaaant! -fades in the distance till he becomes a shiny dot on the horizon-

-Julia, Angela, Syerrah and Ne-Ne-chan giggling in backround-

Syerrah: Get it? He played catch with Darkstar, _with Xelloss_ as the ball.

Julia: So it was still _with him_

Reina: -walks over, grabs them all by the back of the shirt and drags them off-

Jula: We'll be baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack


End file.
